Cavaliers-Pistons Game 6 Preview

In exactly 16 hours from now, Game 6 of the Cavaliers-Pistons series will commence and by the end, we will see either of two outcomes: LeBron James will go against all odds and finally close out the Detroit Pistons to single-handedly take the Cleveland Cavaliers to the next step, the NBA Finals; much reminiscent of Dwayne Wade's NBA Finals showing last year, where he brought Miami back from 0-2 deficit to win the series. Or Flip Saunders will finally find a way to answer LeBron James and bring this series back to Detroit for at least one more game this season; much reminiscent of last year's Cavs-Pistons match-up where the Pistons won the series in 7 games after being down 3-2.

The question in my mind now is if LeBron will still have enough energy to carry his team in tomorrow's game after yesterday's blockbuster performance. I'm sure he gave it his all in last night's game, and the fatigue could possibly take a toll on his performance tomorrow; considering that LeBron only has 48 hours to rest before finally getting back to banging and grinding. I am also wondering whether LeBron would feel pressure in closing out the Pistons. Remember, confidence plays a huge role in a player's performance, and if LeBron doesn't believe that they can beat the Pistons, if he gets bothered by remembering last year's dumping of the Detroit Pistons in this same situation, then the Cavalier victory won't happen. Especially now that the Pistons could finally be feeling some sense of urgency, with only one loss separating them from keeping their season alive and lying naked in the beach wondering what went wrong.

If the Pistons hope to win the game, they need to employ a better strategy in guarding LeBron. The 48-point outburst against them in the hands of LeBron James was unacceptable especially after taking pride in being a defensive team; in addition to that, none of the other teammates of James can really be considered as offensive threats which means they could have concentrated harder on James. So what happened?

Last 3 games of LeBron James: 35 ppg, 9 apg, 8.3 rpg, 2.3 spg, 52% FG

I guess 'Jordan Rules' didn't work out so well on LeBron. However, Flip might want to try this strategy: A Plan To Stop LeBron.

Aside from keeping up their game, the only thing the Cavaliers need to do to win Game 6 and the trip to the season's biggest stage of all, the NBA Finals: They need to believe.

(Note: this is the first time I've ever posted a picture of LeBron James with his teammates around. Why? Because he needs them if they want to win; even though they don't score, rebounding and blocking like crazy will do, just like Anderson Varejao. Oh yeah, and the picture looks cool.)

Turn on your TVs and start popping those corns, Game 6 is only 16 hours away!